The Douglas true fir is an evergreen plant conifer metal money in the pine kinsfolk , Pinaceae . It is aboriginal to western North America and is also bed as Douglas - fir , Douglas spruce , Puget Sound pine , Oregon pine , cherry-red pine or Columbian pine . Despite its vulgar name , it is not a honest true fir ( genius Abies ) , spruce ( genus Picea ) or pine ( genusPinus ) . It is also not a poison hemlock ; the genus namePseudotsugameans “ false Conium maculatum ” . There are three varieties : coast Douglas - fir , Rocky Mountain Douglas - fir and Mexican Douglas - fir .
Douglas - firs are medium - size to extremely big evergreen plant tree , about 60 or 70 metres magniloquent ( although only coast Douglas - firs , pass on top near 100 m ) and usually get to 8 ft in diameter although tree with diameter of almost 5 metres ( 16 foot ) exist . The big coast Douglas - firs regularly dwell over 500 years , with the old specimen live for over 1,300 years . Rocky Mountain Douglas - firs , launch further to the east , are less long - lived , usually not exceeding 400 years in age .
There are records of former coast Douglas - firs outstrip 120 metres in height , which if live today would make it the tall tree species on Earth . Particular historical specimens with heights exceeding 400 foot admit the Lynn Valley Tree and the Nooksack Giant .
Native Range
The latitudinal range of Douglas - fir is the great of any commercial coniferous tree of western North America . Its aboriginal reach , extending from latitude 19 ° to 55 ° N. , resemble an inverted V with uneven side . From the apex in cardinal British Columbia , the shorter arm extend in the south along the Pacific Coast Ranges for about 2200 kilometre ( 1,367 mi ) to latitude 34 ° 44′ N. , represent the reach of the distinctive coastal or green variety , menziesii ; the longer arm stretches along the Rocky Mountains into the pot of fundamental Mexico over a distance of well-nigh 4500 km ( 2,796 Military Intelligence Section 6 ) , comprising the range of a function of the other recognized variety , glauca – Rocky Mountain or blue .
Nearly sodding stands of Douglas - fir tree stay on south from their northern limitation on Vancouver Island through western Washington , Oregon , and the Klamath and Coast Ranges of northern California as far as the Santa Cruz Mountains . In the Sierra Nevada , Douglas - true fir is a common part of the mixed conifer timberland as far in the south as the Yosemite realm . The range of Douglas - true fir is fairly continuous through northern Idaho , western Montana , and northwesterly Wyoming . Several outlier are present in Alberta and the eastern - central parts of Montana and Wyoming , the largest being in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming . In northeastern Oregon , and from southern Idaho south through the slew of Utah , Nevada , Colorado , New Mexico , Arizona , extreme western Texas , and northern Mexico , the distribution becomes discontinuous .
Douglas Fir Characteristics
Uses
Cultivation
Varieties
Douglas - fir has one of the panoptic ranges of any North American conifer , much of it over extremely analyse terrain , and the species expose a great deal of genetic differentiation . Much of this mutant is strongly associated with geographic or topographical features .
Ecological Notes
Douglas - fir is grown as a Christmas tree on rotation browse from 4 to 7 years . Trees are shear each class to incur a pyramid - mold crown . Attempts to grow Douglas - fir as a Christmas tree in North America outside its native range have failed . Coastal Douglas - fir is usually killed by frost , and the interior variety suffer too much from the needle hurtle diseasePhaeocryptopus gaeumanni .
